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 Two teams that are locked into their postseason positions as the
regular season nears its conclusion played a classic double-overtime
game Friday night that didn't end until an unlikely hero came
through.
Raymond Felton's driving layup with 1.5 seconds left gave the Dallas
Mavericks a 144-143 double-overtime victory over the Denver Nuggets.
Denver's Kenneth Faried missed a hook shot in the lane over Felton
as time expired in the second overtime.
Dallas is locked into the Western Conference's seventh seed, and
Denver won't be in the postseason. Dallas coach Rick Carlisle seemed
amused by how things unfolded.
"What a great game," he said. "It's the most interesting meaningless
game I've ever seen. But it wasn't really meaningless.
"There were a lot of good things that happened out there tonight.
There's no one more deserving of the game-winning shot than Ray
Felton. The guy has been through an epic year. ... Our whole team
couldn't be happier for him."
Felton's epic year includes a high ankle sprain that cost him 26
games and a four-game suspension for pleading guilty to a gun
possession charge.
"The biggest thing for me is to get a win, feel good, to get that
shot, to see my teammates excited and happy for me," Felton said.
"That was more appealing and more exciting to see the guys get that
excited for me."
Equally exciting was Carlisle's tactics late. At the start of the
second overtime, he pulled four starters -- Dirk Nowitzki, Richard
Jefferson, Tyson Chandler and Monta Ellis -- leaving only Felton in
with four reserves. They didn't return. Starting guard Rajon Rondo
didn't play all night so he could rest.
With Dallas' aging roster and the playoffs looming, Carlisle figured
enough was enough.
"It was tempting to do it before the first one, but they wanted to
play," Carlisle said. "We're trying to get better, we're trying to
win. We want to be in competitive situations, so I understood. And I
really felt we could win the guys off the bench because they had
played well in the game."
Denver coach Melvin Hunt said if he had it to do again, he'd run the
same play at the end of the second overtime that he did Friday.
"Kenneth knew he had 1.4 seconds left and we got what we wanted,"
Hunt said. "He just didn't convert."
Denver's Danilo Gallinari scored a career-high 47 points, including
17 in the two overtimes. It was the most by a Nugget since Carmelo
Anthony had 50 on Feb. 7, 2011.
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"It would have been more fun if we won," Gallinari said.
Six Nuggets scored in double figures, as did seven Mavericks. Dallas
set the previous high for points in an NBA game this year with 140
against the Lakers in November.
Nowitzki scored 25 points and Jefferson added a season-high 24 as
Dallas withstood Denver's furious second-half rally. The Nuggets
played lethargically in the first half, allowing Dallas to score 73
points and shoot 63 percent from the field. The Mavericks led by 21,
73-52 at the break.
Dallas led by as many as 23 points late in the second quarter before
Denver awakened in the third quarter. The Nuggets used a 22-5 run in
the quarter and pulled to within 93-89 by its end.
It was the first double-overtime game in Denver since December 20,
2007, when the Nuggets beat Houston.
Denver (29-50) has reached 50 losses in a season for the first time
since going 17-65 in 2002-03. The Nuggets chose Anthony in the first
round of the 2003 draft and improved to 43-39 the next season.
"Wow, the guys played their tails off," Hunt said. "It was an
incredible game."
NOTES: Former Nuggets coach George Karl returns Sunday to Denver
when Sacramento comes to town. The Kings hired Karl in February, and
this will be his first trip to Denver with a new team since being
fired as Nuggets coach in 2013. From 2004 to 2013, Karl coached the
Nuggets to nine playoffs and a 423-257 record. Denver fired Karl in
the spring of 2013 shortly after he was named NBA coach of the year.
"I can't wait to be able to sit down and chat with him prior to the
game," said Hunt, who was an assistant in Denver under Karl. "I know
he'll have some insightful thing -- some insightful nugget -- to
throw out there for us." ... Nuggets G Jameer Nelson (right flexor
strain) did not play. F Darrell Arthur (right calf strain) dressed
in uniform, but Hunt did not plan to play him. ... While Dallas will
be the seventh seed in the upcoming Western Conference playoffs, the
second spot is up for grabs among Memphis, Houston, San Antonio and
the Los Angeles Clippers. Carlisle is eager to see whom they'll
face. "This is something that could come down to the last minute."
... Dallas forward Chandler Parson (right knee) did not play.
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